The distance race is a struggle that results in self-discovery. It is an adventure involving the limits of the self

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Happy Saturday!

So I have been looking forward to today all week! Yeah I did get stuck at work:( but I have a fun-filled day planned. The Gator game is only showing on Pay-per view which is not really condusive to me viewing it, so I took that opportunity to head down to St. Augustine to see Laura!In just 29-hopefully short minutes I will be on the road headed the 30 minutes south to see Laura and little Roy who I've heard just keeps getting longer! My friend Eliza also happens to live right next to Laura, so we may just make a girls day of it. Food is definitely a priority and I really want to go to the Nike Outlet to peruse for some new work-out attire and some possible xmas gifts ;)We are hoping to also make it to Liza's for girlie TV and wine, but her man is making a last minute trip up to visit so we may not get to see her as planned. Either way, food, shopping, and your long lost best friend is ALWAYS a good combination. Last night, John and I finally went and did the 3 mile run we had put off, and guess what- we set a new PR, YAY! I know, its not a race, but I think it should stil count if its the fastest I've ever done. I did my first 2 miles at about a 9:45 pace (John was ahead of me so about 9:35 for him) and then I started to fade in the last mile, but was determined to finish in under 30 minutes so averaging a 10 minute mile or less. Well I finished mile 3 in 10:04 putting my total run time at 29:34, YAY!We talked about our splits as we were walking back to the apartment and I told him I really wanted to focus on doing negative splits for our shorter runs. After our run, we stretched, entertained the Peach and decided to head to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner. It was getting late and we didn't want to have to wait anywhere. I like Ruby Tuesdays as an easy sit down restaurant because they have the salad bar which I enjoy and its super close to our house! I ordered crabcakes minis with the salad bar. I ate 1 mini crabcake, no sandwich, I was getting too full, a few fries and my whole salad. I also managed to help John polish off a quite tasty chips and queso appetizer- Yum! This was the first large meal we have eaten out since trying to be very healthy and picky with all meals. I don't count our anniversary b/c it was a special occasion and I gave myself full permission to splurge. Last night I was happy I kept portions and food quality in consideration, although I probably should have skipped muching so much on the appetizer, but live and learn.We stopped on the way home to pick up a redbox movie, John wanted to see Star Trek so we got it. It was enough to hold my attention for a bit, but I mostly ended up checking blogs and reading my magazines. I crawled into bed early and left John and Peachie up watching Kirk? defend the univese. Not sure if thats what was really happening, but I think I got it right.

So this moring I set out to do 3 miles on the treadmill because I knew that would force me to run the speed I set it at. Well I managed 3 miles of negative splits today! That being said...Saturdays are our long run day, but this week only called for 3 miles so I told myself it would not be bad to do a slower 3 miles because I have read the goal of a long run should be about completing the distance and actually spending more time on your feet because the race you are training for is typically longer than your training run so taking 5 or 10 minutes longer is probably a good thing. So I did 3 miles this morning in 35 minutes (seems slow now, but a few short months ago this was a goal for me)So I did my splits in 1/2 mile intervals as to not burn out from doing 2 runs in a 12 hour period but also to keep it interesting since I was on the treadmill. Splits, if you want to call them that, look like this:Mile 0-.5: 12:00 paceMile .5-1: 11:19 paceMile 1-1.5: 11:00 paceMile 1.5-2: 10:30 paceMile 2-2.5: 10:20 paceMile 2.5-3: 10:00 paceNothing overly impressive, but it was nice to know I could do it and see how it feels to progressively get quicker.

So thankfully the last hour here has now gone by much quicker since I was able to update you on my weekend adventures. About to head out, will be back later with a recap and hopefully a Gator Victory. Sunday will consist of Peachie time, grocery shopping, Laundry, and CLEANING!!!!!!!!!!!!!Go Gators!